South Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung, left, a presidential hopeful from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, bows to Lee Shim, head of the Korean Senior Citizens Association, during a visit to the association in Mapo, Seoul, Thursday. An vowed to introduce measures to resolve poor living conditions of elderly people, including reforming the basic living subsidy and pension plans for them. The move came as the liberal contender seeks to expand support from centrist and conservatives voters. / Yonhap

Bareun Party Chairman Yoo Seong-min, left, and People’s Party Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo take part in a joint committee meeting to discuss the two parties' merger, Friday. The committee decided to name the merged entity the Mirae Party (mirae means “future” in Korean). / Yonhap

Patriots and Veterans Affairs Minister Pi Woo-jin, center drops the puck at a hockey game between Korean andCanadian teams, dubbed the “2018 Imjin Classic,” at Yulgok Wetland Park in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. The name of the event refers to the Imjin River where soldiers from Canada played hockey on the frozen river during the Korean War. The event was organized to promote the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. / Yonhap

A citizen lays flowers on the grave of Park Jong-chul, a student activist who was tortured and killed under the military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan, on the 31st anniversary of his death, Sunday. The college student’s death sparked nationwide protests that brought democratic elections to Korea, and is depicted in the box office hit movie “1987: When the Day Comes.” / Yonhap

New Woori Bank CEO Sohn Tae-seung speaks during his inauguration ceremony at the bank’s headquarters in Seoul, Friday. He is the 51st chief of the lender, succeeding Lee Kwang-goo. / Courtesy of Woori Bank

Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Park Yong-maan, right, and Rep. Hong Young-pyo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea who currently chairs the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee, are tight-lipped during a meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Park said businesses agreed to accept the consensus of lawmakers on a gradual and flexible reduction of working hours from 68 to 52 hours, ahead of the minimum wage hike next year. While several hardliners are opposed to the move, Park urged lawmakers to pass the bill regarding the working hour reduction as soon as possible, during his sixth visit to the National Assembly this year. / Yonhap

A worker at KEB Hana Bank’s anti-counterfeit center inspects U.S. dollar bills at the financial institution’s headquarters in Seoul, Tuesday. Korea’s foreign exchange reserves reached $387.25 billion as of the end of November, which is the highest in history, according to the Bank of Korea. / Yonhap

Kwangdong Pharmaceutical Vice Chairman and CEO Choi Sung-won, left, poses with Oh Kyung-soo, CEO of Jeju Provincial Development Co., after renewing a contract on the distribution of SamDaSoo, the country’s most popular bottled water, at the Sheraton Seoul Palace Gangnam Hotel, Thursday. Under the contract, Kwangdong will distribute SamDaSoo, produced by the development corporation, to retail stores throughout the country, except Jeju Island, for four years until December 2021. Kwangdong has been distributing the bottled water since 2012./ Courtesy of Kwangdong Pharmaceutical

McDonald’s High Growth Market President Joe Erlinger, left, and McDonald’s Korea CEO Cho Ju-yeon, second from left, distribute rice-cake soup to McDonald’s employees working at its special store for the PyeongChang Olympic Games at Ramada Gangwon Sokcho Hotel, Tuesday. To encourage workers, Erlinger is wearing traditional Korean dress just ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls on Feb. 16. Koreans eat rice-cake soup during the holiday season. Courtesy of McDonald’s Korea

Kia Motors CEO Park Han-woo, second from left, and Vice President Kwon Hyeok-ho, right, pose next to the new K3 compact sedan, during a press conference at Walkerhill Hotel in Seoul, Tuesday. The carmaker began receiving pre-orders for its first full-change model in six years. / Yonhap

Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon, left, talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the latter’s office in Hanoi on Feb. 8. Hyosung said Sunday the two discussed the group’s chemical and heavy industry investments in the country. Courtesy of Hyosung

K-Sure CEO Moon Jae-do, right, shops at a traditional market in Seoul, Friday. He visited the market to promote traditional markets ahead of the Lunar New Year that falls on Feb. 16. / Courtesy of K-Sure

Park Jung-ho, left, CEO of the nation’s largest mobile carrier SK Telecom (SKT), shakes hands with Jack Ma, chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, at SKT’s head office in Seoul, Thursday. The two discussed issues related to artificial intelligence technologies and wireless fifth-generation networks, which will be the center of the new ICT industry, according to the SKT. / Courtesy of SK Telecom

Korea’s delegation to the PyeongChang Olympic Games bow during “charye,” a ritual ceremony held on Lunar New Year’s Day, at the Team Korea House in Gangneung Olympic Park, Gangwon Province, Friday. / Yonhap

Min Byoung-chul, chairman of the Sunfull Foundation, speaks during an event to deliver the PyeongChang Joint Statement for Peace, wishing for Peace on the Korean Peninsula and the successful hosting of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Monday. Tim Wright, second from left, and Tilman Ruff, fourth from left, respectively representing the 2017 and 1985 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), also participated in the event. They are visiting Korea to announce a message for peace ahead of the Games. / Courtesy of Sunfull Movement

The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, left, answers questions after receiving the special prize during the 2017 Cho-A Pharmaceutical Awards for professional baseball players at Seoul Plaza Hotel, Wednesday. Former Samsung Lions slugger Lee Seung-yuop, right, was also honored during the ceremony. The pharmaceutical company presented awards for players in 17 categories, including Pitcher of the Year, during the ceremony. / Yonhap

Participants in the 470th Turtle Marathon pose at the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress after finishing the walkathon, Saturday. The Hankook Ilbo, a sister paper of The Korea Times, hosted the monthly event. Participants included Hankook Ilbo President Lee Jun-hee, fourth from right, Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young, sixth from right, and Kim Jin-kwan, chairman of the Suwon City Council, left. / Korea Times photo by Shin Sang-soon

Venerable Seol Jeong receives a bouquet of flowers after being elected 35th executive chief of the Buddhist Jogye Order at the Jogye Temple, Wednesday. Ven. Seol, 75, received 234 votes out of 319 in the election held last month. He will lead the order for the next four years. / Yonhap

Participants of the Korea CQ Forum, hosted by the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI), pose after hearing a lecture by Lee Ho-soo, the president of SK Telecom’s ICT strategy department, on the topic “ICT Issues in 2017” at the residence of Danish Ambassador to Korea Thomas Lehmann. From bottom left are Chairman of DI Corporation Park Won-ho, the spouse of Turkish Ambassador Pinar Okcal; President of CICI Choi Jung-wha; Lee; and the Danish Ambassador. / Courtesy of CICI

Simon Lee, CEO of Flitto, gave a lecture on the future of translation using mobile platform and web online at the Korea CQ forum hosted by Corea Image Communication Institute at Flitto building in Samseong-dong, Seoul, Tuesday. Participants included Chevron Korea Chairman Bill Miner, left in the back row, Turkish Ambassador to Korea Arslan Hakan Okcal, third from left in the back row, Lee, fourth from left in the back row and The Korea Times CEO Lee Chang-sup, right in the back row. CICI President Choi Jung-wha is seen fourth from left in the front row. / Courtesy of CICI

A woman and her son look at drawings by Mexican illustrator Louis San Vicente at the 2017 Taipei International Book Exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday. The annual Taipei book fair is held at the Taipei International Trade Center from Wednesday to Monday. / EPA-Yonhap

Miss Korea 2017 winner Seo Jae-won, 21, smiles after her victory in the annual beauty pageant at the Universal Arts Center, in Neung-dong, Seoul, Friday. The annual contest was hosted by the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times / Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon

Pianist Sunwoo Yekwon won the Gold Medal in the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday. The 28-year old became the first South Korean to win the Van Cliburn’s Winner’s Cup since the competition was first held in 1962. He performed Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 in his final rounds of the competition. Kenneth Brosberg, 23, and Daniel Hsu 19, from the U.S. took the Silver and Bronze Medals. / Yonhap

British director Gareth Edwards, right, stands with Mexican actor Diego Luna, left, and British actress Felicity Jones during a press conference for the film “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” in Tokyo, Wednesday. The film will be released in movie theaters across Japan, Dec. 16. / EPA-Yonhap